As expected, the upheaval following the ouster of public defender Wanda Johnson resulted in the postponement Tuesday of a motions hearing in a local murder case in Lamar superior court.

Jamarris Williams, who was represented by Johnson, was due in court for hearing on motions in his murder trial. He is charged with stabbing local cab company owner John Dixson and leaving him to die in a ditch.

Williams was not transported to the courthouse for Tuesday's session and no public defender was at the defense table.

Attorney Douglas Smith of Marietta, who has been working as a public defender in Henry County, has been hired for the local job and reported to work Tuesday in Monroe County to begin his tenure.